America's abandoned military bases represent the physical legacy of a century of defense spending — Cold War nuclear bomber bases sealed since the 1990s, WWII coastal artillery forts that guarded the Pacific and Atlantic against enemies that never came, and a $6 billion anti-ballistic missile pyramid that was operational for exactly one day. Here are the 5 best abandoned military bases in the USA, selected from our Abandoned Places Map USA — 5,000+ GPS locations across the United States.
Why Abandoned Military Bases Are Among the Most Extraordinary Urbex Sites in America
Abandoned military installations combine a quality found almost nowhere else in the American urbex landscape — the sheer physical scale of Cold War-era military construction, the technological sophistication of nuclear-era infrastructure and the abruptness of abandonment when BRAC decisions or arms control agreements made installations obsolete overnight. The result is some of the most dramatically intact abandoned sites in the country.
1. Loring Air Force Base – 1953 Limestone, Maine — Strategic Air Command Nuclear Bomber Base, Closed 1994, Enormous Hangars and Nuclear Weapons Igloos Still Standing (Known Location)
Positioned closer to the Soviet Union than any other Strategic Air Command base in the continental US — just 50 miles from the Canadian border, on the polar route to Soviet cities — Loring AFB near Limestone, Maine housed B-52 nuclear bombers from 1953 until the 1994 BRAC closure. At its peak it supported 10,000 personnel and their families in a complete Cold War city across 9,000 acres. What remains is one of the largest concentrations of abandoned Cold War military infrastructure in America — the enormous B-52 aircraft hangars, nuclear weapons storage igloos, the control tower, miles of taxiway and runway and hundreds of support buildings. The Loring Commerce Centre has repurposed some buildings; vast sections of the original installation remain abandoned. One of the most atmospherically powerful abandoned military bases in the USA.
🔗 Learn more: Wikipedia – Loring Air Force Base
2. Camp Hero, Montauk – WWII and Cold War Radar Station, Inspiration for Stranger Things, Antenna Still Visible from the Beach, New York (Known Location)
Built in WWII as a coastal defense installation at the tip of Long Island's Montauk Point, Camp Hero was converted in the 1950s into one of the most powerful SAGE air defense radar stations on the East Coast — the enormous AN/FPS-35 radar antenna, one of the largest in the world, still dominates the Montauk skyline and is visible from the beach. The base was decommissioned in 1981; it is now part of Camp Hero State Park, with significant above-ground radar infrastructure, underground bunkers and WWII artillery emplacements accessible. A persistent urban legend — amplified by its proximity to the Montauk lighthouse and its unusual underground infrastructure — claims the site was used for classified mind control experiments called the "Montauk Project." Netflix's Stranger Things drew direct inspiration from these legends. One of the most culturally notorious abandoned military bases in the USA.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Best Abandoned Places in the USA →
3. Fort Ord – 1917 Monterey Bay, California — 28,000-Acre Infantry Training Center, First Racially Integrated US Military Base, Closed 1994, Abandoned Barracks Returning to Nature (Known Location)
Fort Ord on Monterey Bay served as the US Army's primary infantry training center through the Vietnam War era, hosting the 7th Infantry Division across 28,000 acres of coastal California from 1940 until its 1994 BRAC closure. It was historically the first racially integrated military installation in the United States. The scale of the abandoned infrastructure is extraordinary — 1950s construction projects costing over $20 million left 31 dormitories housing 7,000 men, now decaying among the coastal scrub with the Monterey Bay visible beyond. California State University Monterey Bay now occupies a portion of the site; Fort Ord National Monument (2012) preserves the military heritage. The abandoned barracks, the live-fire range ruins and the coastal setting make this one of the most visually dramatic abandoned military bases in the USA. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map USA.
4. Fort Stevens Battery Russell – 1904 Astoria, Oregon — The Only Continental US Military Installation Shelled by a Foreign Power Since 1812, WWII Japanese Submarine Attack (Known Location)
Fort Stevens at the mouth of the Columbia River holds a singular distinction in American military history — on June 21, 1942, Japanese submarine I-25 fired 17 shells at the fort, making it the only continental US military installation attacked by a foreign power since the War of 1812. The battery commander declined to return fire, not wanting to reveal the guns' positions. The massive concrete gun emplacements, ammunition storage rooms, observation posts and underground command infrastructure still stand in Fort Stevens State Park, the coastal setting and the WWII history making this one of the most dramatically located and most historically significant abandoned military bases in the USA. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map USA.
5. Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex – 1975 Nekoma, North Dakota — $6 Billion Anti-Ballistic Missile Pyramid, Operational for One Day, the Most Surreal Cold War Ruin in America (Known Location)
Built at a cost of six billion dollars near Nekoma, North Dakota, the Mickelsen Safeguard Complex was designed to intercept Soviet ICBMs aimed at Minuteman launch fields with its own nuclear-tipped Sprint and Spartan interceptor missiles. The defining structure is a massive truncated concrete pyramid housing the Missile Site Radar — phased-array panels on each face, 85 feet high, visible from miles across the flat North Dakota plains. The system became operational on October 1, 1975. Congress voted to deactivate it the next day — citing the cost of maintaining a system whose limited effectiveness didn't justify the budget. It ran for one full day. The pyramid still stands on the Great Plains, sometimes compared to a Mayan monument dropped from the sky. The most surreal abandoned military base in the USA. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map USA.
Safety Tips for Exploring Abandoned Military Bases in the USA
- Unexploded ordnance: Fort Ord and other former live-fire ranges contain unexploded ordnance — never leave established trails and never pick up or approach metal objects on the ground
- Asbestos: universal in pre-1980 military construction — always wear an FFP2 respirator mask in any enclosed military building
- Federal trespassing: many abandoned military sites remain federal property — penalties for unauthorized entry are significantly more severe than state trespass laws; always verify legal access before approaching any military installation
The urbex code applies everywhere: "Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints."
❓ FAQ – Abandoned Military Bases in the USA
What is the most famous abandoned military base in the USA?
Camp Hero at Montauk, New York — a WWII coastal defense installation converted to a Cold War SAGE radar station whose enormous AN/FPS-35 antenna still dominates the Montauk skyline. Decommissioned in 1981 and now part of Camp Hero State Park, the base inspired Netflix's Stranger Things through persistent legends about classified underground experiments.
What was the Mickelsen pyramid built to do?
The Missile Site Radar building at the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex was designed to simultaneously track incoming Soviet ICBMs and guide nuclear-tipped interceptor missiles to destroy them — a phased-array radar system of extraordinary technical complexity. The entire $6 billion system was declared operational on October 1, 1975 and voted to be deactivated by Congress the following day as too expensive to maintain.
Why were so many American military bases closed in the 1990s?
The Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process, which ran in major rounds in 1988, 1991, 1993 and 1995, was designed to eliminate excess military capacity following the end of the Cold War. The 1990s rounds alone closed or realigned over 300 installations, creating the wave of large-scale military abandonment that produced the most significant Cold War-era military ruins in America.
🎯 Summary
America's abandoned military bases are the Cold War made physical — a nuclear bomber base on the polar route to Moscow, a pyramid that cost $6 billion and ran for one day and the only coastal fort shelled by Japan in WWII. Each of these 5 abandoned military bases in the USA captures a different moment in the century of American military ambition — and the extraordinary things that were built and then simply walked away from when the strategy changed.
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